Hammerson plc
Disposal
7 November 2016
Disposal of Westmorland Retail Park, Cramlington
Hammerson plc ("Hammerson") has exchanged contracts for the sale of Westmorland Retail Park, Cramlington in Northumberland to Arch Commercial Enterprise Ltd ("Arch") for £36 million.
Arch also acquired the adjacent Manor Walks Shopping Centre in July 2016 from Hammerson. The two schemes form the core retail offer for Cramlington town centre and ownership of both enables Arch to effectively manage the complementary retail offers.
Hammerson acquired the asset in 2006 and has refurbished and extended the scheme to create a refreshed retail terrace, attracting a number of new high-street brands including Currys PC World, TK Maxx, Costa and M&S Food.
The sale price for Westmorland represents a net initial yield of 5.8%, and is moderately below book value as at 30 June 2016.
Additional recent smaller transactions take the total proceeds received to £43 million.
David Atkins, CEO Hammerson, commented: "It is encouraging to see continued interest in well-positioned retail park assets at supportive pricing levels. Arch is a natural owner of the asset having already invested in the adjacent shopping centre, and our strategy of introducing high street brands to this asset has created a strong offering for the local catchment."
For further information:
David Atkins, CEO
020 7887 1000
Rebecca Patton, Head of Investor Relations
020 7887 1109
Note: the announcement above has also been released on the SENS system of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Notes to Editors
Hammerson is a FTSE 100 owner, manager and developer of retail destinations in Europe. Our portfolio of high-quality retail property has a value of around £9 billion and includes 22 prime shopping centres, 18 convenient retail parks and investments in 15 premium outlet villages, through our partnership with Value Retail and the VIA Outlets joint venture. Key investments include Bullring, Birmingham, Bicester Village, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin and Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille.